Fleet Elements by Walter Jon Williams

Author:Walter Jon Williams [Williams, Walter Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780062467065
Google: 2ZTVDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-12-08T00:00:00+00:00

“The war could have picked a better time to start than my transition,” said Alana Haz.

“If the war consulted you on its timetable,” Sula said, “then it would have to let everybody mess with it. Next thing you know, there wouldn’t be a war at all.”

Sula stirred another lump of sugar into her tea. Haz took a sip of Kailas, her favorite dessert wine. Its honeyed scent enriched the air, and Sula wondered what it tasted like. If it tasted anything like its scent, it would be glorious.

But, Sula reminded herself, Kailas had a lot of alcohol, and she didn’t drink. So she’d have to confine herself to enjoying its bouquet.

Lord Alan Haz had been Sula’s premiere on Confidence during the Naxid War. He had been a vigorous, square-shouldered man, adept at sports and at encouraging the crew to greater exertions. After the end of the war Sula had lost touch with Haz, until she discovered that in the intervening years Haz had married, fathered two children, and then transformed, not quite completely, into Alana. Her wife, in whom Sula detected a dogged determination, had joined Alana in exile in Harzapid and brought the children with her.

Sula dined in Haz’s quarters, as her guest. Defense had been a Daimong ship, and its captain had decorated his quarters with hand-painted tiles showing scenes of oceans, islands, and sea life, scenery as far removed from the howling vacuum outside the ship as could be imagined.

“Fortunately the role of a military officer is somewhat stereotyped,” Haz said. “I know how to do that. I’m not quite sure yet how best to be myself.”

Sula was not very interested in discussions of the self but was willing to be a courteous interlocutor if courteous interlocution was called for. “The war aside,” Sula asked, “would you rather be doing something else?”

“Probably,” Haz said, “but I don’t know what that would be.” She sighed. “I thought that once I’d done my transition, my problems would be over, but all I’m seeing is more complications on the horizon. I’m changing, but I don’t know what I’m moving toward. Myself, I hope.”

“Let’s hope we all live long enough to find out,” Sula said. The morning’s Fourth Fleet exercise had not gone well for the Restoration, who had inflicted vast damage on a virtual enemy fleet, but in the end had been overwhelmed by numbers. Defense had spent a lot of time jinking at high accelerations in a futile effort to avoid enemy missiles, and Sula’s muscles were sore, she had a backache, and nevertheless she had to exert herself to be a pleasant dinner guest.

“The whole empire is in transition,” Sula said, “and we don’t know what it’s becoming. Sometimes I think absolutely anything is allowed.”

“We may be more ruthless now than the Shaa,” Haz said. “Who would have thought that was even possible?”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Haz took another sip of her Kailas. “Perhaps we could change the subject,” she said. “Have you seen Squadron Leader Severin’s video of Puppet Tork?”

“No,” Sula said, “but I like the sound of ‘Puppet Tork.

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